Friends’ tour de plants

Simon Shenton and Karl Hedley are cycling to every Distribution Centre delivered to by the Daventry depot on a daily basis.

Their 1,400 mile journey which will take them through 5 countries has been planned to take 20 days.

The co-workers decided to take up cycling over a year ago, to get fit, as they reached middle age and bought bikes for local runs.

They soon progressed to taking part in the 55 mile London to Brighton cycle ride.

Undeterred by suffering scrapes and grazes in training they decided to set themselves a bigger challenge.

The Tesco workers challenged each other to make the same journey as the deliveries from the Daventry centre to all the 14 distribution centres up and down the country.

Simon said: “We have done this for one reason, to raise as much money as we possibly can for the Tesco Charity Partnership.

“With the first few days under our belt, the magnitude of what we have set ourselves has started to sink in.

“We’ve got faith in our training though and hopefully with everyone’s support we can make it through the full 1,400 miles.

“It will certainly be a challenge!”

The co-workers have been in training for over 6 months and have recruited the expertise of the Coventry University Sports Therapy Department to help them deal with potential injuries, choosing the right diet, and teaching warm-up exercises.

Four current and former students from the university will also be part of the support team for the event, on hand to provide advice and guidance. Rider Karl’s dad Peter will be in driving the all important support vehicle with food, drink, and providing moral support.

Karl said: “We’re hugely grateful to everyone that has supported us so far, particularly our friends and family who have had to put up with a lot of dirty clothes and more than a few blisters.

“We’re really excited about giving this a crack and would urge anyone who can to make a donation to help us raise as much as possible for these two great causes”.

Karl and Simon will be regularly posting regular updates on their progress along with pictures and videos on twitter via @Shenton78 and @Karlhedley2. Simon will also be blogging on their website thebigtescosaddlesoretour.co.uk.